“I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.” - Jude 5
I must admit that when I first sat down to write this devotional, after having read the book of Jude again and specifically this verse, I really did not know about many of the things that occurred after God had delivered, through Moses, the children of Israel out of Egypt and as He led them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. I felt that the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that I should not be in a hurry to write this devotional. Instead, I should take the time to go back and read the Old Testament Scriptures for myself and not worry about how many days had elapsed since I first started this writing. I was to focus on the message of God that is written in the Scriptures: no matter what, I must not harden my heart in sin and rebellion and I must continue in my belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let us read and discuss some of the Scriptures Jude lovingly reminded us to remember, for the days that the prophets and the apostles prophesied about, when many would turn away from their faith and turn to fables spoken of by great deceivers, are here; we are living in those days.
Moses was a Hebrew man of the tribe of Levi and was born in Egypt. When Moses was born, he survived the king of Egypt, Pharaoh’s commandment to put all male children born unto the Hebrews into the river so that they would die. Pharaoh was threatened by the increasing number of Hebrews that lived in Egypt, for their numbers had increased since another Hebrew, Joseph, his father Jacob, and his family lived there. After hiding him for three months, Moses’ mother could hide him no more. She put him in an ark of bulrushes and laid it by the river bank, where it was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who took the child and raised him as her own. Moses lived as an Egyptian until one day, he saw how his people, the Hebrews, who had been enslaved for hundreds of years in Egypt were mistreated by the Egyptian. Moses saw an Egyptian smite a Hebrew slave. Moses then went and slew that Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Pharaoh heard what had happened and sought to kill Moses, causing Moses to flee to the land of Midian. There, Moses met a man named Reueul, also named Jethro, who was the priest of Midian. Moses married one of his daughters named Zipporah and they had two sons. Time passed and Pharaoh died and the children of Israel were still in bondage. They cried to God, and God heard their cry:
“And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.” (Exodus 2:24-25)
Meanwhile, Moses kept his father-in-law’s sheep, and one day when he came to the mountain of God, an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a burning bush, and God called to Moses:
“And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto generations.” (Exodus 3:5-15)
Moses did go to Egypt with his brother Aaron and they went to Pharaoh, saying to him, “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1), but Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go. God sent the first plague, and Pharaoh refused. God then sent ten plagues upon Egypt, with the last plague being the death of the firstborn of both man and beast, but God protected the Israelites when He established the Passover with His people, and their firstborns were saved. Finally, after the final deadly plague, Pharaoh agreed to let God’s people go. Moses, through the mighty hand of God, led the children of Israel through the Red Sea, and God parted the waters so that Israel could cross on dry ground. When Pharaoh regretted his decision to let Israel go and pursued them with his armies through the Red Sea that God had parted, God caused the waters to swallow up Pharaoh and his men, finally freeing the Israelites from the grip of Egypt.
The children of Israel then went into the wilderness of Shur and after three days, they found no drinkable water, for the water was bitter. Then God provided for them:
“And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and thee LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:24-26)
By the 45th day of their journey, they again murmured against Moses and also Aaron and questioned why God had brought them out of Egypt. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the wilderness area God brought them to was called “Sin.”
And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:1-3)
The LORD then told Moses:
“I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” (Exodus 16:4-5)
Moses told them their murmurings weren’t against him and Aaron but against God Himself. He told them God would provide flesh to eat (quail) in the evening, “then ye shall know that thee LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 16:6) and bread from heaven, called Manna, in the morning, “then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he hearth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?” (Exodus 16:7). It seems that God only gave them quail for that one evening, but He gave them manna for forty years (Exodus 16:35). God gave them through Moses specific instructions on how much manna to collect and to collect it for six days but not on the seventh day, for it was the Sabbath day. Some people did not heed the instructions and collected more than they were told to collect, and when they did, the manna turned to worms.
As they journeyed, they left the wilderness of sin and entered Rephidim. Once again, they were without water and they murmured against Moses and Aaron. Moses appealed to God and said the people were ready to stone him. God told Moses to smite the rock in Horeb and water would come out of it, and it did. (Exodus 17:1-7)
In the third month after they had left Egypt, Moses led the children of Israel to the desert of Sinai:
“And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6)
Moses did as commanded him, and all the people said they would do as the Lord had spoken.
At Mount Sinai, Moses met God at the mountain, and God gave Moses His Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-17). The people saw and were filled with fear:
“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shall thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.” (Exodus 20:18-26)
Later, God again called Moses up to Mount Sinai. Moses was there for forty days and forty nights, and the children of Israel corrupted themselves:
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” (Exodus 32:1-6)
They had disobeyed the commandments of God and lied and said it was the man Moses that had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They denied the mighty power of God and that it was He who had delivered them from the bondage of Pharaoh; Moses had no power of his own absent of God. Then, because Moses was now out of the picture, or so they thought, they made a false god with their own hands and said it was this false god-calf that had brought them out of Egypt, and they worshipped and sacrificed to their false god. This is a perfect example of how quickly we ourselves can forget all that God has done for us. It is a picture of when times get tough and things aren’t going as we expected, that we decide to abandon our faith in Him and in what He can and will do for us in the future, and instead put our faith and trust in a false god or false gods, whether those false gods be a golden calf or something different, such as ourselves, money, government, medicine, or any other thing besides the one true God.
God saw and heard what they were doing and said to Moses:
“Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.” (Exodus 32:7-11)
Moses appealed to God not to destroy all the children of Israel and to remember His promises to them:
“And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sparest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” (Exodus 32:11-14)
Previously, God had given Moses the Ten Commandments that God Himself had engraved on both sides of two tablets of testimony. Obeying God’s word to him, Moses took the tablets and went down the mountain. As he came down it, he heard the voice of the people and that they were singing and dancing and his anger was aroused. He took the tablets and broke them beneath the mountain. Then Moses took the calf they had made and burnt it in the fire, ground it to powder, put it in the water, and made the people drink of it. When Moses asked Aaron what the people did to him that he would cause such a great sin to happen, Aaron said they had told him they didn’t know what happened to Moses and that he should make them gods that would go before them. Aaron said he told them to gather their gold and when he put the gold into the fire, “and there came out this calf.” (Exodus 32:24) Aaron clearly lied about what had happened, perhaps in an attempt to make an excuse for his own sin.
“And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin -; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” (Exodus 32:25-33)
Moses had said to God that if He would not forgive them, then to blot Moses’ name out of his book, but God would not do that. God said he would hold each person accountable for their own sin and would blot their names out of His book. Just as Moses was accountable for his own sin and the children of Israel were accountable too, so are we, each one of us, accountable for our own sin.
God continued speaking with Moses, for God had a purpose for Moses and God would see that purpose fulfilled in Moses’ life, and that was for Moses to lead the children of Israel to the land God had given them:
“Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.” (Exodus 32:34-35)
Even though the children of Israel had seen all that God had done for them, all the plagues He had sent upon Pharaoh and Egypt so that Pharaoh would let them go, not long after God delivered them out of Egypt, the people again complained against God. They weren’t happy with the manna that He had given them to eat, and longed for the foods they ate while in bondage. “And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, ‘Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.” (Numbers 11:4-6) To them, it was more important that there bellies were full of the foods they used to eat even though they lived in bondage to a Gentile who worshipped false gods. Because of their lust for the flesh, God sent them in a single day enough quail for every person to eat for a whole month. As they chewed the flesh of the quail, God’s wrath came upon them, and He sent a great plague upon all who had lusted and they died and were buried in a place God called Kibroth-hattaavah, which means “graves of the longing or of lust.” (Numbers 11:34).
As they continued in their wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel murmured again and were envious of Moses and Aaron, whom God had chosen to lead them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. At one point even Aaron and Miriam, who was Moses’ and Aaron’s sister, were envious of Moses until God sent leprosy upon Miriam. Moses appealed to God that He would heal her, and He did.
Before entering the Promised Land, God commanded Moses to send twelve men into the land, one man from every tribe of Israel, to search out the land. The twelve men went, and after searching it for forty days, they came back and reported to Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel. They said the land was indeed a land that flowed with milk and honey and they had brought back fruit from it. However, they reported that there were a strong people, children of Anak. They told of all the people who lived there: the Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, and the Canaanites. Caleb, who was one of the twelve men who went into the land, was not afraid of what he had seen, for he trusted in the Lord and His promises to His people, saying, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30)
“But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:31-33)
Forgetting how God had led them out of Egypt from the hand of Pharaoh, the people of Israel were filled with fear and lamented that God had brought them to die in the wilderness. How many of us, including myself, do not see the power of God and are blinded by the “giants” we have in our own lives? How many of us forget that nothing is too difficult for God, Creator of the heavens, the earth, and the seas and all that is in them? The children of Israel choose fear over faith and decided to take matters in their own hands instead of letting God lead them:
“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” (Numbers 14:1-4)
Joshua, who also was one of the twelve men, and Caleb, tore their clothes, and Joshua said to all of the children of Israel:
“The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not yet against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.” (Numbers 14:7-9)
However, the people ignored Joshua’s words to them and instead wanted to stone him and Caleb to death:
“But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe in me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.” (Numbers 14:10-12)
Let us read God’s words to Moses and let them be heard in our own hearts. After all that God had done for them, the majority of the children of Israel were ungrateful, rebellious, and desired to return to their bondage because they had become comfortable in their bondage. How many of us, myself included, are like this, so quick to forget all that God has done for us in our lives, especially when we are put in a situation where we must either trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) or be filled with fear of what could happen to us because we are in an uncomfortable, an unknown situation and choose not to trust in Him and act on our fear and emotion instead of acting on our faith in Him? God put the children of Israel in the wilderness so that they must learn to depend on Him and on Him alone for their every need. How many of us are willing to do that? How many of us when we are tempted to stray, will remember the signs that He has shown us in our own lives that He loves us, He wants to save us, and He wants us to abide in Him and in His promises to us?
Moses then appealed to God and said that He should not smite the children of Israel so that the other nations, the Gentile/non-Jew nations, would not be able to say that God wasn’t able to bring them into the land that He had sworn to them and instead had slain them. Moses asked God to pardon their iniquity according to God’s great mercy.
“And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” (Numbers 14:20-24)
Notice in the Scripture verse above that God said of the children of Israel, “and have tempted me now these ten times.” Ten was the number of plagues that God had sent upon Pharaoh and Egypt. Ten was the number of commandments that God gave Moses on the two tablets. Ten was also the same number of spies that went out to search the land that gave an evil report and who did not want to go into the Promised Land because of their fear and lack of faith in God. Gotquestions.org has a good article that describes the ten times the children of Israel tempted God. (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/ten-times-Israel-tested-God.html)
God continued, speaking to Moses and Aaron:
“To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in the wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.” (Numbers 14:25-38)
God had said they would wander in the land for forty years, and all people twenty years of age and above at that time He spoke this would not enter the Promised Land, the land they despised and only their “little ones” would enter into it. It would be these little ones who would have to trust in God to bring them through the wilderness and into His land. He would be their provider and not they themselves. They would not fall prey to those against them and against God; rather, their enemies would fall prey to Almighty God.
Moses told all the children of Israel what God had said and they mourned greatly. However, they rose up early the next morning and in rebellion, they decided they would go up to the top of the mountain to go into the land that God had promised them. Moses warned them that they would not prosper and would be smitten before their enemies, for they were going against God’s commandment and that He would not be with them. However, they didn’t listen and they left Moses and the ark of the covenant of the LORD and left for the hill top. As Moses warned them:
“Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.” (Numbers 14:45)
Next, God gave Moses specific instructions on the various offerings they should make before the Lord when He would bring them to the land that He would give them. Then God spoke to Moses, saying:
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” (Numbers 15:38-41)
But instead of heeding God’s voice, a group of men rose up in rebellion. Pride set into the hearts of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They gathered together with them 250 other men, whom Numbers 16:2 tells us were “princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown,” and they confronted Moses and Aaron, saying to them:
“Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?” (Numbers 16:3)
Moses fell on his face when he heard what they said. Moses said to them:
“Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him? And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: Is it a small thing that thou has brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.” (Numbers 16:5-14)
Moses told Korah and all the men with him, 250 in number, to take their censers, put incense in them, and bring them before the LORD. The 250 men did as Moses said and put fire in their censers and “stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron” (Numbers 16:18). Korah gathered all the congregation against Moses and Aaron, “and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.” (Numbers 16:19) God was ready to consume all the men and the congregation who came against Him, but Moses again interceded for the people. God told Moses to tell the people to leave the tabernacle where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and their men had come, and they did as Moses told them. Dathan and Abram came out of their tents with their wives and family:
“And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.” (Numbers 16:28-40)
Instead of considering and realizing the deep sin that Korah and his men had committed against God that day and seeing that God will - and does - judge us for our sins, the next day, the children of Israel once again murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “Ye have killed the people of the LORD.” (Numbers 16:41) Many times Moses had interceded on behalf of the children of Israel, asking God to save them, and here they were now, blaming Moses for the death of rebellious Korah and his followers, calling them “people of the LORD,” when it was Korah and his followers who went against what the Lord had said. The congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron looked toward the tabernacle and saw a cloud covering it and the glory of the Lord appeared once more. The Lord told Moses to get up, for He was going to consume the people. Moses told Aaron to take a censer, put fire from the altar in it, put on incense and go to the congregation and make atonement for them because God had sent a plague on them that had already it.
After wandering in the wilderness for forty years, as God promised, out of the original children of Israel whom God delivered out of Egypt, it was only Joshua and Caleb who were the adult Israelites in that first generation who eventually entered the Promised Land. This was because everyone else had not wholly followed God. Neither Aaron nor Moses were allowed to enter it because of their own disobedience to God. Moses had let his anger get the best of him when once again the people complained about the lack of water. God had told Moses what to do:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, taking the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.” (Numbers 20:7- 11)
Moses did not obey God’s command to him. God had told Moses only to speak to the rock and that water would come forth from it; He did not tell Moses to strike the rock. Not only did Moses strike it, he struck it twice. And, Moses said “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (Numbers 20:10). Moses seemed to be attributing the power to obtain water from a rock by his and Aaron’s power and not the power of God. Aaron, as high priest, should have advised Moses when Moses said what he said to the people but he did not. Further, Aaron had previously sinned against God by making the golden calf and when he and his sister Miriam had spoken against their brother Moses. Thus, God said He would hold both Moses and Aaron accountable for what they had done:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.” (Numbers 20:12-13)
I have provided just a few examples of how the children of Israel, whom God delivered out of Egypt by His mighty hand after He sent ten plagues upon it, who saw with their own eyes the awesome power of God as He split the Red Sea and made a way for Israel to pass on dry land, and they saw as the water swallowed up Pharaoh and his armies after Israel had made it safely to the other side. The children of Israel had seen how God miraculously provided food and water for them in the wilderness, and yet, many continued in disbelief and were quick to going back to their old ways and even worshipped a false god, a golden calf made of human hands, even saying it was the golden calf that had delivered them out of Egypt instead of Almighty God.
Before we are quick to judge the children of Israel, let us examine our own lives and consider how God has saved us, perhaps from imminent danger, or by redeeming us of all our sins when we put our faith and trust in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ as our Savior, and how we acted after we were saved. Did we murmur and complain against God soon after He did something miraculous in our own life? Did we harden our heart against Him? Did we take for granted all that God has provided for us because it wasn’t what we wanted but it was what we needed at that time in our life?
While God did use both Moses and Aaron in a mighty way to fulfill His purposes for the children of Israel, God’s word was fulfilled, and neither Moses nor Aaron would enter the Promised Land. God had to do this as an example to the children of Israel that God’s commandments are to be heeded, no matter what. Instead, God chose Joshua to lead the younger generation of the children of Israel into His land. We are warned in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments not to harden our hearts as the people did in their rebellion as they wandered in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land:
“O come, let us worship and down down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” (Psalm 95:6-11)
As Jude warns us, may we remember what the Scriptures tell us, may we learn from the lessons of the generations who lived before us, and may we not harden our hearts, which leads to turning against God. May we who have admitted we are sinners, believe that Jesus Christ has redeemed us of all our sins, and have called upon Him to save us, continue steadfastly in our faith. May we not murmur and complain against Him when things don’t go as we expected, even when we think it was something He would have wanted for us. We are not God, and we do not know the end from the beginning, as He does. Let us realize that sometimes, He will allow us to go through some very difficult things in our lives so that we can let go of trusting in the things and the people of this world and learn to trust in Him alone in all situations. Our hope is not in this world, in a politician, a government, our job, our doctors, our friends, or even in our family; every single one of them will disappoint and fail us. Rather, our hope is in Jesus Christ alone, and only He can fix this mess that the entire world is in, and the cause of it all is sin. We are walking in a wilderness of sin, just as the children of Israel walked in; we are no different than they are. We must remember that Jude wasn’t writing to unbelievers - he was writing to professing believers in Christ. As believers in Christ, as pressures mount in the world and on us, we are not immune to falling or turning away from our faith. If our faith is not thoroughly grounded by having deep roots that can only come by weathering the storms in our lives by trusting in the Lord, it will quickly be toppled as the winds of persecution blow against us, and not only against us but also against the children of Israel.
We truly are living in the times that Jude wrote about, the last time, the end times, when mockers scoff at us, for they“walk after their own ungodly lusts.” (Jude 18) The time is now to deepen our faith by reading God’s word, praying to Him, and asking Him to give us the ability to discern lies from truth, for deception is at an all time high, deceiving many and causing them to turn away from their faith in Jesus Christ.
Moses loved God, and he did his best to lead the children of Israel. However, Moses was yet a sinner, and we see how his sinful action prohibited him from entering the Promised Land. This is why God had to send His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. While Moses was a high priest, Jesus is THE high priest who never sinned. Only Jesus can save us from our sins because we could never keep God’s commandments to us. That is the purpose of the Old Testament: to show us that we cannot be saved by anything we could do, for we are all sinners in need of the Savior. God sent Jesus to us, “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [non-Jew]” (Romans 1:16) to offer the way - the only way - of salvation from all our sins, for all who chose to believe in Him and remain in our faith in Him.
As the persecution of Jews is on the rise in our wicked world, let us not be quick to believe the lie of Satan that God is finished with the Jews. Sadly, there are many people in so-called Christian churches that believe this lie. Have they not read God’s word for themselves? Let us read what the apostle Paul wrote of this:
“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye knot what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Romans 11:1-5)
“I say then, Have they [Israel, the Jews] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them [the Jews] to jealousy.” (Romans 11:11)
“For if God spared not the natural branches [Israel, the Jews], take heed lest he also spare not thee.” (Romans 11:21)
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-27)
As God has always done, He will save a remnant of the Jews as they go through the time of Jacob’s trouble, the coming 7-year tribulation period. It is that remnant, one-third of the Jews, who will mourn the One whom they have pierced, Jesus Christ, and will come to faith in Him:
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.” (Zechariah 12:10-14)
“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, the LORD is my God.” (Zechariah 13:8-9)
In closing, let us remember the consequences of our sin and what happens when we murmur against God and harden our hearts against Him, in our own rebellion in the wilderness. Let us read the words of the admonition to us in Hebrews, not letting our hearts be hardened as we wait on the Lord to bring us into His rest, where we will live with Him forever, free from the burden of sin:
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; while it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest on the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 3-4)
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:17-18)
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:14-18) ✝️